ST. AUGUSTIN ON THE PSALMS

PSALM XXXV.[3]

1.
...The title of it causeth us no delay, for it is both brief, and to
be understood not
difficult,
especially to those nursed in the Church of
God. For so it is, "To David himself." The Psalm then is to David
himself: now David is interpreted, Strong in hand, or Desirable. The Psalm
then is to the Strong in hand, and Desirable, to Him who for us hath overcome
death, who unto us hath promised life: for in this is He Strong in hand,
that He hath overcome death for us; in this is He Desirable, that He hath
promised unto us life eternal. For what stronger than that Hand which touched
the bier, and he that was dead rose up?[4] What stronger than that Hand
which overcame the world, not armed with steel, but pierced with wood?
Or what more desirable than He, whom not having seen, the Martyrs wished
even to die, that they might be worthy to come unto Him? Therefore is the
Psalm unto Him: to Him let our heart, to Him our tongue sing worthily:
if yet Himself shall deign to give somewhat to sing. ...

2. "Judge Thou, O Lord" (saith he), "them that hurt me,
and fight Thou against them that fight against me" (ver. 1). "If
God be for us, who can be against us?"[5] And whereby doth God this
for us? "Take hold" (saith he) "of arms and shield, and
rise up to my help" (ver. 2). A great spectacle is it, to see God
armed for thee. And what is His Shield, what are His Arms? "Lord," in
another place saith the man who here also speaketh, "as with the shield
of Thy good-will hast Thou compassed us."[6] But His Arms, wherewith
He may not only us defend, but also strike His enemies, if we have well
profited, shall we ourselves be. For as we from Him have this, that we
be armed, so is He armed from us. But He is armed from those whom He hath
made, we are armed with those things which we have received from Him who
made us: These our arms the Apostle in a certain place calleth, "The
shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God."[7] He hath armed us with such arms as ye
have heard, arms admirable, and unconquered, insuperable and shining; spiritual
truly and invisible, because we have to fight also against invisible enemies.
If thou seest thine enemy, let thine arms be seen. We are armed with faith
in those things which we see not, and we overthrow enemies whom we see
not. ...

3. "Pour forth the weapon, and stop the way against them that persecute
me" (ver. 3). Who are they that persecute thee? Haply thy neighbour,
or he whom thou hast offended, or to whom thou hast done wrong, or who
would take away what is thine, or against whom thou preachest the truth,
or whose sin thou rebukest, or whom living ill by thy well living thou
offendest. There are indeed even these enemies to us, and they persecute
us: but other enemies we are taught to know, those against whom we fight
invisibly, of whom the Apostle warneth us, saying, "We wrestle not
against flesh and blood,"[8] that is, against men; not against those
whom ye see, but against those whom ye see not; "against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the world, of this darkness." ... "The
whole world lieth in wickedness;"[9] therefore the Apostle explained
of what world they were rulers, he said, "of this darkness." The
rulers of this world, I say, are the rulers of this darkness. ...

4.
And what follows? "Let them be confounded and put to shame, that
seek after my soul" (ver. 4): for to this end they seek after it,
to destroy it. For I would that they would seek it for good! for in another
Psalm he blameth this in men, that there was none who would seek after
his soul: "Refuge failed me: there was none that would seek after
my soul."[1] Who is this that saith, "There was none that would
seek after my soul"?[2] Is it haply He, of whom so long before it
was predicted, "They pierced My Hands and My Feet, they numbered all
My Bones, they stared and looked upon Me, they have parted My Garments
among them, and cast lots for My Vesture"?[3] Now all these things
were done before their eyes, and there was none who would seek after His
Soul. ...

5.
...Many have been confounded to their health: many, put to shame, have
passed over from
the persecution
of Christ to the society of His members
with devoted piety; and this would not have been, had they not been confounded
and put to shame. Therefore he wished well to them. ... Let them not go
before, but follow; let them not give counsel, but take it. For Peter would
go before the Lord, when the Lord spake of His future Passion: he would
to Him as it were give counsel for His health. The sick man to the Saviour
give counsel for His health! And what said he to the Lord, affirming that
His future Passion? "Be it far from Thee, Lord. Be gracious to Thyself.
This shall not be to Thee." He would go before that the Lord might
follow; and what said He? "Get thee behind Me, Satan."[4] By
going before thou art Satan, by following thou wilt be a disciple. The
same then is said to these also, "Let them be turned back and brought
to confusion that think evil against me." For when they have begun
to follow after, now they will not think evil against me, but desire my
good.

6.
What of others? For all are not so conquered as to be converted and believe:
many continue
in
obstinacy, many preserve in heart the spirit
of going before, and if they exert it not, yet they labour with it, and
finding opportunity bring it forth. Of such, what followeth? "Let
them be as dust before the wind" (ver. 5). "Not so are the ungodly,
not so; but as the dust which the wind driveth away from the face of the
earth."[5] The wind is temptation; the dust are the ungodly. When
temptation cometh, the dust is raised, it neither standeth nor resisteth. "Let
them be as dust before the wind, and let the Angel of the Lord trouble
them." "Let their way be darkness and slipping "(ver. 6).
A horrible way! Darkness alone who feareth not? A slippery way alone who
avoids not? In a dark and slippery way how shall thou go? where set foot?
These two ills are the great punishments of men: darkness, ignorance; a
slippery way, luxury. "And let the Angel of the Lord persecute them;" that
they be not able to stand. i For any one in a dark and slippery way, when
he seeth that if he move his foot he will fall, and there is no light before
his feet, haply resolveth to wait until light come; but here is the Angel
of the Lord persecuting them. These things he predicted would come upon
them, not as though he wished them to happen. Although the Prophet in the
Spirit of God so speaketh these things, even as God doth the same, with
sure judgment, with a judgment good, righteous, holy, tranquil; not moved
with wrath, not with bitter jealousy, not with desire of wreaking enmities,
but of punishing wickedness with righteousness; nevertheless, it is a prophecy.

7.
But wherefore these so great evils? By what desert? Hear by what desert. "For
without cause have they hid for me the corruption of their trap" (ver.
7). For Him that is our Head, observe, the Jews did this: they hid the
corruption of their trap. For whom hid they their trap? For Him who saw
the hearts of those that hid. But yet was He among them like one ignorant,
as though He were deceived, whereas they were in that deceived, that they
thought Him to be deceived. For therefore was He as though deceived, living
among them, because we among such as they were so to live, as to be without
doubt deceived. He saw His betrayer, and chose him the more to a necessary
work. By his evil He wrought a great good: and yet among the twelve was
he chosen, lest even the small number of twelve should be without one evil.
This was an example of patience to us, because it was necessary that we
should live among the evil: it was necessary that we should endure the
evil, either knowing them or knowing them not: an example of patience He
gave thee lest thou shouldest fail, when thou hast begun to live among
the evil. And because that School of Christ in the twelve failed not, how
much more ought we to be firm, when in the great Church is fulfilled what
was predicted of the mixture of the evil. ...

8.
But yet what is to be done? "Without a cause have they hid for
me the corruption of their trap." What meaneth, "Without a cause"?
I have done them no evil, I have hurt them not at all. "Vainly have
they reviled my soul." What is, "Vainly"? Speaking falsely,
proving nothing. "Let a trap come upon them which they know not of" (ver.
8). A magnificent retribution, nothing more just! They have hidden a trap
that I might know not: let a trap come upon them which they know not of.
For I know of their trap. But what, trap is coming upon them? That which
they know not of. Let us hear, lest haply he speak of that. "Let a
trap come upon them, which they know not of." Perhaps that is one
which they hid for him, that another which shall come upon themselves.
Not so: but what? "The wicked shall be holden with the cords of his
own sins."[1] Thereby are they deceived, whereby they would deceive.
Thence shall come mischief to them, whence they endeavoured mischief. For
it follows, "And let the net which they have hidden catch themselves,
and let them fall into their own trap." As if any one should prepare
a cup of poison for another, and forgetting should drink it up himself:
or as if one should dig a pit, that his enemy might fall thereinto in the
darkness and himself forgetting what he had dug, should first walk that
way, and fall into it. ...

9.
This then for the wicked that would hurt me: what for me? "But
my soul shall rejoice in the Lord" (ver. 9); as in Him from whom it
hath heard, "I am thy salvation;" as not seeking other riches
from without; as not seeking to abound in pleasures and good things of
earth; but loving freely the true Spouse, not from Him wishing to receive
aught that may delight, but Him alone proposing to itself, by whom it may
be delighted. For what better than God will be given unto me? God loveth
me: God loveth thee. See He hath proposed to thee, Ask what thou wilt.[2]
If the emperor should say to thee, Ask what thou wilt, what commands,[3]
what dignities,[4] wouldest thou burst forth with! What great things wouldest
thou propose to thyself, both to receive and to bestow! When God saith
unto thee, Ask what thou wilt, what wilt thou ask? empty thy mind, exert
thy avarice, stretch forward as far as possible, and enlarge thy desire:
it is not any one, but Almighty God that said, Ask what thou wilt. If of
possessions thou art a lover, thou wilt desire the whole earth, that all
who are born may be thy husbandmen, or thy slaves. And what when thou hast
possessed the whole earth? Thou wilt ask the sea, in which yet thou canst
not live. In this greediness the fishes will have the better of thee. But
perhaps thou wilt possess the islands. Pass over these also; ask the air
although thou canst not fly; stretch thy desire even unto the heavens,
call thine own the sun, the moon, and the stars, because He who made all
said, Ask what thou wilt: yet nothing wilt thou find more precious, nothing
wilt thou find better, than Himself who made all things. Him seek, who
made all things, and in Him and from Him shalt thou have all things which
He made. All things are precious, because all are beautiful; but what more
beautiful than He? Strong are they; but what stronger than He? And nothing
would He give thee rather than Himself. If aught better thou hast found,
ask it. If thou ask aught else, thou wilt do wrong to Him, and harm to
thyself, by preferring to Him that which He made, when He would give to
thee Himself who made. ...

"But my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His
salvation." The salvation of God is Christ: "For mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation."[5]

10. "All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee" (ver.
10). Who can speak anything worthily of these words? I think them only
to be pronounced, not to be expounded. Why seekest thou this or that? What
is like unto thy Lord? Him hast thou before thee. "The unrighteous
have declared unto me delights, but not after Thy law, O Lord!"[6]
Persecutors have been who have said, Worship Saturn, worship Mercury. I
worship not idols (saith he): "Lord, who is like unto Thee? They have
eyes, and see not; ears have they, but they hear not."[7] "Lord,
who is like unto Thee," who hast made the eye to see, the ear to hear?
But I (saith he) worship not idols, for them a workman made. Worship a
tree or mountain; did a workman make them also? Here too, Lord, who is
like unto Thee? Earthly things are shown unto me; Thou art Creator of the
earth. And from these haply they turn to the higher creation, and say to
me, Worship the Moon, worship this Sun, who with his light, as a great
lamp in the Heavens, maketh the day. Here also I plainly say, "Lord,
who is like unto Thee?" The Moon and the Stars Thou hast made, the
Sun to rule the day hast Thou kindled, the Heavens hast Thou framed together.
There are many invisible things better. But haply here also it is said
to me, Worship Angels, adore Angels. And here also will I say, "Lord,
who is like unto Thee?" Even the Angels Thou hast created. The Angels
are nothing, but by seeing Thee. It is better with them to possess Thee,
than by worshipping them to fall from Thee.

11.
O Body of Christ, Holy Church, let all thy bones say, "Lord,
who is like unto thee?" And if the flesh under persecution hath fallen
away, let the bones say, "Lord, who is like unto Thee?" For of
the righteous it is said, "The Lord keepeth all their bones; not one
of them shall be broken."[8] Of how many righteous have the bones
under persecution been broken? Finally, "The just shall live by faith,"[9]
and "Christ justifieth the ungodly."[10] But how justifieth He
any except believing and confessing? "For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."[1]
Therefore also that thief, although from His theft led to the judge, and
from the judge to the cross, yet on the very cross was justified: with
his heart he believed, with his mouth he confessed. For neither to a man
unrighteous and not already justified, would the Lord have said, "To-day
shall thou be with Me in Paradise,"[2] and yet his bones were broken.
For when they came to take down the bodies, by reason of the approaching
Sabbath, the Lord was found already dead, and His Bones were not broken.[3]
But of those that yet lived, that they might be taken down, the legs were
broken, that so from this pain having died, they might be buried. Were
then of the one thief, who persisted in his ungodliness on the cross, the
bones broken, and not also of the other who with his heart believed, and
with his mouth made confession unto salvation? Where then is that which
was said, "The Lord keepeth all his bones; not one of them shall be
broken;" except that in the Body of the Lord the name of bones is
given to all the righteous, the firm in heart, the strong, yielding to
no persecutions, no temptations, so as to consent unto evil? ...

12. "Which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him;
yea, the poor and needy from him that spoileth him." ...Who that deliverest,
but He who is Strong in hand? Even that David shall deliver the poor from
him that is too strong for him. For the devil was too strong for thee,
and held thee, because he conquered thee, when thou consentedst unto him.
But what hath the Strong in hand done? "No man entereth into a strong
man's house, to spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man."[4]
By His own Power, most Holy, most Magnificent, hath He bound the devil
by pouring forth the weapon to stop the way against him, that He may deliver
the poor and needy, to whom there was no helper.[5] For who is thy helper
but the Lord to whom thou sayest, "O Lord, My Strength, and My Redeemer."[6]
If thou wilt presume of thy own strength, thereby wilt thou fall, whereof
thou hast presumed: if of another's, he would lord it over thee, not succour
thee. He then alone is to be sought Who hath redeemed them, and made them
free, and hath given His Blood to purchase them, and of His servants hath
made them His Brethren. ...

13.
Let then our Head say, "False witnesses did rise up, they laid
to My charge things that I knew not" (ver. 11). But let us say to
our Head, Lord, what knewest Thou not? Didst Thou indeed know not anything?
Didst Thou not know the hearts of them that charged Thee? Didst Thou not
foresee their deceits? Didst Thou not give Thyself into their hands knowingly?
Hadst Thou not come that Thou mightest suffer by them? What then knewest
Thou not? He knew not sin, and thereby He knew not sin, not by not judging,
but by not committing. There are phrases of this kind also in daily use,
as when thou sayest of any one, He knoweth not to stand, that is, he doth
not stand; and, He knoweth not to do good, because he doth not good; and,
He knoweth not to do ill, because he doth not ill. ... What knew not Christ
so much, as to blaspheme? Thereof was He called in question by His persecutors,
and because He spake truth, He was judged to have spoken blasphemy? But
by whom? By them of whom it followeth, "They rewarded Me evil for
good, and barrenness to My Soul" (ver. 12). I gave unto them fruitfulness,
they rewarded Me barrenness; I gave life, they death; I honour, they dishonour;
I medicine, they wounds; and in all these which they rewarded Me, was truly
barrenness. This barrenness in the tree He cursed, when seeking fruit He
found none.[8] Leaves there were, and fruit there was not: words there
were, and deeds there were not. See of words abundance, and of deeds barrenness. "Thou
that preachest a man should not steal, stealest: thou that sayest a man
should not commit adultery, committest adultery."[9] Such were they
who charged Christ with things that He knew not.

14. "But I, when they troubled me, clothed myself with sackcloth,
and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer shall return into mine
own bosom" (ver. 13). ...Brethren, if for some little space with pious
curiosity we lift the veil, and search with the intent eye of the heart
the inner part of this Scripture, we find that even this the Lord did.
Sackcloth, haply He calleth His mortal flesh. Wherefore Sackcloth? For
the likeness of sinful flesh. For the Apostle saith, "God sent His
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that through sin He might condemn
sin in the flesh:"[10] that is, He clothed His Own Son with sackcloth,
that through sackcloth" He might condemn the goats. Not that there
was sin, I say not in the Word of God, but not even in that Holy Soul and
Mind of a Man, which the Word and Wisdom of God had so joined to Himself
as to be One Person. Nay, nor even in His very Body was any sin, but the
likeness of sinful flesh there was in the Lord; because death is not but
by sin,[12] and surely that Body was mortal. For had It not been mortal,
It had not died; had It not died, It had not risen again; had It not risen
again, It had not showed us an example of eternal life. So then death,
which is caused by sin, is called sin; as we say the Greek tongue, the
Latin tongue, meaning not the very member of flesh, but that which is done
by the member of flesh. For the tongue in our members is one among others,
as the eyes, nose, ears, and the rest: but the Greek tongue is Greek words,
not that the tongue is words, but that words are by the tongue. ...So then
the sin of the Lord is that which was caused by sin; because He assumed
flesh, of the same lump which had deserved death by sin. For to speak more
briefly, Mary who was of Adam died for sin,[1] Adam died for sin, and the
Flesh of the Lord which was of Mary died to put away sin. With this sackcloth
the Lord clothed Himself, and therefore was He not known, because He lay
hid under sackcloth. "When they," saith He, "troubled Me,
I clothed Myself with sackcloth:" that is, they raged, I lay hid.
For had He not willed to lie hid neither could He have died, since in one
moment of time one drop only of His Power, if indeed it is to be called
a drop, He put forth, when they wished to seize Him, and at His one question, "Whom
seek ye?" they all went back and fell to the ground.[2] Such power
could He not have humbled in passion, if He had not lain hid under sackcloth.

15.
Again, if we have understood the sackcloth, how understand we the fasting?
Wished Christ
to eat, when
He sought fruit on the tree,[3] and
if He had found, would He have eaten? Wished Christ to drink, when He said
to the woman of Samaria, "Give Me to drink"?[4] when He said
on the Cross," I thirst"?[5] For what hungered, for what thirsted
Christ, but our good works? Because in them that crucified and persecuted
Him He had found no good works, He fasted; for they rewarded barrenness
to His soul. For what a fast was His, who found barely one thief, whom
on the Cross He might taste! For the Apostles had fled, and had hidden
themselves in the multitude. And even Peter, who even to the death of his
Lord had promised to persevere, had now thrice denied Him, had now wept,
and still lay hid in the multitude, still feared lest He should be known.
Lastly, having seen Him dead, all of them despaired of their own safety
and despairing He found them, after His resurrection, and when He spake
with them, found them grieving and mourning, no longer hoping anything...
. In great fasting had the Lord remained, had He not refreshed them that
He might feed on them. For He refreshed them, He comforted them, He confirmed
them, and into His Own Body converted them. In this manner then was our
Lord also in fasting.

16. "And My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom." In the
bosom of this verse is plainly a great depth, and may the Lord grant that
it be fathomable by us. For in the "bosom" a secret is understood.
And we ourselves, Brethren, are here well admonished to pray within our
own bosom, where God seeth, where God heareth, where no human eye penetrateth,
where none seeth but He who succoureth; where Susanna prayed, and her voice,
though it was not heard by men, yet by God was heard.[6]... We read also
that in the mount Jesus prayed alone,[7] we read that He passed the night
in prayer,[8] even at the time of His Passion.[9] What then? "And
My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom." I know not what better
to understand concerning the Lord: take meanwhile what now occurs;[10]
perhaps something better will occur hereafter, either to me or to some
better: "My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom:" this I
understand to be said, because in His Own Bosom He had the Father. "For
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."[11] In Himself
He had Him to whom He prayed. He was not far from Him, for Himself had
said, "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me."[12] But because
prayer rather belongeth to very Man [for according as Christ is the Word,
He prayeth not, but heareth prayer; and seeketh not to be succoured for
Himself, but with the Father succoureth all): what is, "My prayer
shall return into Mine Own Bosom," but in Me My Manhood invoketh in
Me My Godhead.

17. "As a Neighbour, as our Brother, so I pleased Him: as one mourning
and sorrowful, so I humbled myself" (ver. 14). Now looketh He back
to His Own Body: let us now look to this. When we rejoice m prayer, when
our mind is calmed, not by the world's prosperity, but by the light of
Truth: (who perceiveth this light, knoweth what I say, and he seeth and
acknowledgeth what is said, "As a Neighbour, as our Brother, so I
pleased Him"): even then our soul pleaseth God, not placed afar off,
for, "In Him," saith one, "we live and move and have our
being,"[13] but as a Brother, as a Neighbour, as a Friend. But if
it be not such that it can so rejoice, so shine, so approach, so cleave
unto Him, and seeth itself far off thence, then let it do what followeth, "As
one mourning and sorrowful, so I humbled Myself. As our Brother, so I pleased
Him," said He, drawing near; "As one mourning and sorrowful,
so I humbled Myself," said He, removed and set afar off... . Did not
Peter draw near, when he said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
Living God"? And yet the same man became afar off by saying, "Be
it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee." Lastly, what
said He, his Neighbour, as it were, to him drawing near? "Blessed
art thou, Simon, Barjona." To him afar off, as it were, and unlike,
what said He? "Get thee behind Me, Satan."[1] To him drawing
near, "Flesh and blood," saith He," hath not revealed it
unto thee, but My Father, which is in Heaven." His Light is shed over
thee, in His Light thou shinest. But when having become afar off, he spake
against the Lord's Passion, which should be for our Salvation, "Thou
savourest not," said He, "the things that be of God, but those
that be of men," One rightly placing together both of these saith
in a certain Psalm, "I said in my ecstasy, I am cast off from before
Thine Eyes."[2] In my ecstasy, would he not have said, had he not
drawn near; for ecstasy, is the transporting of the mind. He poured: over
himself his own soul, and drew near unto God; and through some cloud and
weight of the flesh being again cast down to earth, and recollecting where
he had been, and seeing where he was, he said, "I am cast off from
before Thine Eyes." This then, "As a Neighbour, as our Brother,
so I pleased Him," may He grant to be done in us; but when that is
not, let even this be done, "As one mourning and sorrowful, so I humbled
myself."

18.
And against Me they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together"[3]
(ver. 15), against Me only: they rejoicing, I sorrowful. But we heard just
now in the Gospel, "Blessed are they that mourn."[4] If they
are blessed that mourn, miserable are they that laugh. "Against Me
they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: scourges were gathered
together against Me, and they knew not."[5] Because they laid to My
charge things that I knew not, they also knew not Whom they charged.

19. "They tempted Me, and mocked Me with mocking"[6] (ver. 16).
That is, they derided Me, they insulted Me; this of the Head, this of the
Body. Consider, Brethren, the glory of the Church which now is; remember
its past dishonours, remember how once were Christians everywhere put to
flight, and wherever found, mocked, beaten, slain, exposed to beasts, burned,
men rejoicing against them. As it was to the Head, so it is also to the
Body. For as it was to the Lord on the Cross, so has it been to His Body
in all that persecution which was made but now: nor even now cease the
persecutions of the same. Wherever men find a Christian, they are wont
to insult, to persecute, to deride him, to call him dull, senseless, of
no spirit, of no knowledge. Do they what they will, Christ is in Heaven:
do they what they will, He hath honoured His punishment, already hath He
fixed His Cross in the foreheads of all; the ungodly is permitted to insult,
to rage he is not permitted; but yet from that which the tongue uttereth,
is understood what he beareth in his heart: "They gnashed upon Me
with their teeth."

20. "Lord, when wilt Thou look on? Rescue My Soul from their deceits,
My Darling from the lions" (ver. 17). For to us the time is slow;
and in our person is this said, "When wilt Thou look on?" that
is, when shall we see vengeance upon those who insult us? When shall the
Judge, overcome by weariness, hear the widow?[7] But our Judge, not from
weariness, but from love, delayeth our salvation; from reason, not from
need; not that He could not even now succour us, but that the number of
us all may be filled up even to the end. And yet out of our desire, what
do we say? "Lord, when wilt Thou look on? Rescue My Soul from their
deceits, My Darling from the lions:" that is, My Church from raging
powers.

21.
Lastly, wouldest thou know what is that Darling? Read the words following: "I
will confess unto Thee, O Lord, in the great Congregation; in a weighty[8]
people will I praise Thee" (ver. 18). Truly saith He," I will
confess unto Thee:" for confession is made in all the multitude, but
not in all is God praised: the whole multitude heareth our confession,[9]
but not in all the multitude is the praise of God. For in all the whole
multitude, that is, in the Church which is spread abroad in the whole world,
is chaff, and wheat: the chaff flieth, the wheat remaineth; therefore, "in
a weighty people will I praise Thee." In a weighty people, which the
wind of temptation carries not away, in such is God praised.For in the
chaff He is ever blasphemed... .

22. "Let not them that are Mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over Me:" for
they rejoice lover Me because of My chaff. "Who hate Me without a
cause;" that is, whom I never hurt; "winking with their eyes" (ver.
19): that is, pretending hypocrites, "For they spake indeed peace
to Me" (ver. 20). What is, "winking with their eyes"? Declaring
by their looks, what they carry not in their heart. And who are these "winking
with their eyes"? "For they spake indeed peace to Me; and with
wrath devised craftily." "Yea they opened their mouth wide against
Me" (ver. 21). First winking with their eyes, those lions sought to
ravish and devour; first fawning they spake peace, and then with wrath
devised craftily. What peace spake they? "Master, we know that Thou
acceptest not man's person, and teachest the way of God in truth. Is it
lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" They spake indeed peace
unto Me. What then? Didst not Thou know them, and deceived they Thee, winking
with their eyes? Truly He knew them; therefore said He, "Why tempt
ye Me, ye hypocrites?"[1] Afterward, "they opened their mouth
wide against Me," crying, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him![2] and said,
Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it." This, when they insulted Him, "Aha,
Aha, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ."[3] As their peace was pretended
when they tempted Him concerning the money, so now insulting was their
praise. "They said, Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it" (ver. 21):
that is, Thy deeds, Thy miracles. This Man is the Christ. "If He be
the Christ, let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe Him.
He saved others, Himself He cannot save."[4] "Our eyes have seen
it." This is all whereof He boasted Himself, when "He called
Himself the Son of God."[5] But the Lord was hanging patient upon
the Cross: His power had He not lost, but He showed His patience. For what
great thing was it for Him to come down from the Cross, who could afterward
rise again from the sepulchre? But He seems to have yielded to His insulters;
and this, beloved, that having risen again He should show Himself to His
own, and not to them, and this is a great mystery; for His resurrection
signified the New Life, but the New Life is known to His friends, not to
His enemies.

23. "This Thou hast seen, O Lord; keep not silence" (ver. 22).
What is, "keep not silence"? Judge Thou. For of judgment is it
said in a certain place,[6] "I have kept silence; shall I keep silence
for ever?" And of the delaying of judgment it is said to the sinner, "These
things hast thou done, and I kept silence;" "Thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such an one as thyself."[7] How keepeth He silence,
who speaketh by the Prophets, who speaketh with His own mouth in the Gospel,
who speaketh by the Evangelists, who speaketh by us, when we speak the
truth? What then? He keepeth silence from judgment, not from precept, not
from doctrine. But this His judgment the Prophet in a manner invoketh,
and predicteth: "Thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence; "that
is, Thou wilt not keep silence, needs must that Thou wilt judge. "O
Lord, be not far from Me." Until Thy judgment come, be not far from
Me, as Thou hast promised, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world."'

24. "Arise, Lord, and attend to My judgment" (ver. 23). To what
judgment? That Thou art in tribulation; that Thou art tormented with labours
and pains? Do not even many wicked men suffer the same? To what judgment?
Therefore art Thou righteous, because Thou sufferest these things? No:
but what? "To My judgment." What followeth? "Attend to My
judgment; even to My cause, My God, and My Lord." Not to My punishment,
but to My cause: not to that which the robber hath in common with Me, but
to that whereof is said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake."[8] For this cause is distinguished. For punishment
is equal to good and bad. Therefore Martyrs, not the punishment, but the
cause maketh, for if punishment made Martyrs, all the mines would be full
of Martyrs, every chain would drag Martyrs, all that are executed with
the sword would be crowned. Therefore let the cause be distinguished; let
none say, because I suffer, I am righteous. Because He who first suffered,
suffered for righteousness' sake, therefore He added a great exception, "Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." For many having
a good cause do persecution, and many having a bad cause suffer persecution.
For if persecution could not be done rightly, it had not been said in a
certain Psalm, "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him did I
persecute."[9] ... Let none then say, I suffer persecution: let him
not sift the punishment, but prove the cause: lest if he prove not the
cause, he be numbered with the ungodly. Therefore how watchfully, how excellently
hath This Man recommended Himself, "O Lord, attend to My judgment," not
to My punishments; "even to My cause, My God, and My Lord."

25. "Judge me, O Lord, according to My righteousness" (ver.
24); that is, attend to My cause. Not according to My punishment, but "according
to My righteousness, O Lord, My God," that is, according to this judge
Thou Me. "And let them not rejoice over Me;" that is, Mine enemies.

26. "Let them not say in their heart, Aha, aha, so would we have
it" (ver. 25); that is, We have done what we could,[1] we have slain
him, we have taken him away. "Let them not say:" show them that
they have done nothing. "Let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Whence
say those Martyrs, "If the Lord had not been on our side, then they
had swallowed us up quick."[2] What is, "had swallowed us up "?
Had passed into their own body. For that thou swallowest up, which thou
passest into thy own body. The world would swallow thee up; swallow thou
the world, pass it into thy own body: kill and eat. As it was said to Peter, "Kill
and eat;"[3] do thou kill in them what they are, make them what thou
art. But if they on the other hand persuade thee to ungodliness, thou art
swallowed up by them. Not when they persecute thee art thou swallowed up
by them, but when they persuade thee to be what they are. "Let them
not say, We have swallowed him up." Do thou swallow up the body of
Pagans. Why the body of Pagans? It would swallow thee up. Do thou to it,
what it would to thee. Therefore perhaps that calf, being ground to powder,
was cast into the water and given to the children of Israel to drink? that
so the body of ungodliness might be swallowed up by Israel. "Let them
be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt:
let them be clothed with shame and dishonour" (ver. 26); so that we
may swallow up them ashamed and brought to confusion. "Who speak evil
against me:" let them be ashamed, let them be brought to confusion.

27.
What sayest thou now, the Head with the Members? "Let them shout
for joy and be glad that favour My righteous cause:" who cleave to
My Body. Yea, let them say "continually, Let the Lord be magnified,
which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant" (ver. 27). "And
my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness, and of Thy praise all the day
long" (ver. 28). And whose tongue endureth to speak the praise of
God all the day long? See now I have made a discourse something longer;
ye are wearied. Who endureth to praise God all the day long? I will suggest
a remedy, whereby thou mayest praise God all the day long if thou wilt.
Whatever thou dost, do well, and thou hast praised God. When thou singest
an hymn, thou praisest God, but what doth thy tongue, unless thy heart
also praise Him? Hast thou ceased from singing hymns, and departed, that
thou mayest refresh thyself? Be not drunken, and thou hast praised God.
Dost thou go away to sleep? Rise not to do evil, and thou hast praised
God. Dost thou transact business? Do no wrong, and thou hast praised God.
Dost thou till thy field? Raise not strife, and thou hast praised God.
In the innocency of thy works prepare thyself to praise God all the day
long.

PSALM XXXVI.[5]

1.
... "The ungodly hath said in himself that he will sin: there
is no fear of God before his eyes" (ver. 1). Not of one man, but of
a race of ungodly men he speaketh, who fight against their own selves,
by not understanding, that so they may live well; not because they cannot,
but because they will not. For it is one thing, when one endeavours to
understand some thing, and through infirmity of flesh cannot; as saith
the Scripture[6] in a certain place, "For the corruptible body presseth
down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth
upon many things;" but another when the human heart acts mischievously
against itself, so that what it could understand, if it had but good will
thereto, it understandeth not, not because it is difficult, but because
the will is contrary. But so it is when men love their own sins, and hate
God's Commandments. For the Word of God is thy adversary, if thou be a
friend to thy ungodliness; but if thou art an adversary to thy ungodliness,
the Word of God is thy friend, as well as the adversary of thy ungodliness.
...

2. "For he hath wrought deceitfully in His sight" (ver. 2).
In whose sight? In His, whose fear was not before the eyes of him that
did work deceitfully. "To find out his iniquity, and hate it." He
wrought so as not to find it. For there are men who as it were endeavour
to seek out their iniquity, and fear to find it; because if they should
find it, it is said to them, Depart from it: this thou didst before thou
knewest; thou didst iniquity being in ignorance; God giveth pardon: now
thou hast discovered it, forsake it, that to thy ignorance pardon may easily
be given; and that with a clear face thou mayest say to God, "Remember
not the sins of my youth, and of my ignorance."[7] Thus he seeketh
it, thus he feareth lest he find it; for he seeketh it deceitfully. When
saith a man, I knew not that it was sin? When he hath seen that it is sin,
and ceaseth to do the sin, which he did only because he was ignorant: such
an one in truth would know his sin, to find it out, and hate it. But now
many "work deceitfully to find out their iniquity:" they work
not from their heart to find it out and hate it. But because in the very
search after iniquity, there is deceit, in the finding it there will be
defence of it. For when one hath found his iniquity, lo now it is manifest
to him that it is iniquity. Do it not, thou sayest. And he who wrought
deceitfully to find it out, now he hath found, hateth it not; for what
saith he? How many do this! Who is there that doth it not? And will God
destroy them all? Or at least he saith this: if God would not these things
to be done, would men live who commit the same? Seest thou that thou didst
work deceitfully to find out thy iniquity? For if not deceitfully but sincerely
thou hadst wrought, thou wouldest now have found it out, and hated it;
now thou hast found it out, and thou defendest it; therefore thou didst
work deceitfully, when thou soughtest it.

3. "The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he would not
understand, that he might do good" (ver. 3). Ye see that he attributeth
that to the will: for there are men who would understand and cannot, and
there are men who would not understand, and therefore understand not. "He
would not understand, that he might do good."

4. "He hath meditated iniquity on his bed." What said He, "On
his bed?" (ver. 4). "The ungodly hath said in himself, that he
will sin:" what above he said, in himself, that here he said, "On
his bed." Our bed is our heart: there we suffer the tossing of an
evil conscience; and there we rest when our conscience is good. Whoso loveth
the bed of his heart, let him do some good therein. There is our bed, where
the Lord Jesus Christ commands us to pray. "Enter into thy chamber,
and shut thy door."[1] What is, "Shut thy door?" Expect
not from God such things as are without, but such as are within; "and
thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Who is
he that shutteth not the door? He who asketh much from God such things,
and in such wise directeth all his prayers, that he may receive the goods
that are of this world. Thy door is open, the multitude seeth when thou
prayest. What is it to shut thy door? To ask that of God, which God alone
knoweth how He giveth. What is that for which thou prayest, when thou hast
shut the door? What "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, or hath entered
into the heart of man."[2] And haply it hath not entered into thy
very bed, that is, into thy heart. But God knoweth what He will give: but
when shall it be? When the Lord shall be revealed, when the Judge shall
appear... .

5. "He hath set himself in every way that is not good." What
is, "he hath set himself"? He hath sinned perseveringly. Whence
also of a certain pious and good man it is said, "He hath not stood
in the way of sinners."[3] As this "hath not stood," so
that "hath set himself." "But wickedness hath he not hated." There
is the end, there the fruit: if a man cannot but have wickedness, let him
at least hate it. For when thou hatest it, it scarcely occurs to thee to
do any wickedness. For sin is in our mortal body, but what saith the Apostle? "Let
not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof."[4] When beginneth it not to be therein? When that shall
be fulfilled in us which he saith, "When this corruptible shall have
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality."[5]
Before this come to pass, there is a delighting in sin in the body, but
greater is the delighting and the pleasure in the Word of Wisdom, in the
Commandment of God. Overcome sin and the lust thereof. Sin and iniquity
do thou hate, that thou mayest join thyself to God, who hateth it as well
as thou. Now being joined in mind unto the Law of God, in mind thou servest
the Law of God. And if in the flesh thou therefore servest[6] the law of
sin,[7] because there are in thee certain carnal delightings, then will
there be none when thou shalt no longer fight. It is one thing not to fight,
and to be in true and lasting peace; another to fight and overcome; another
to fight and to be overcome; another not to fight at all, but to be carried
away. ...

6. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy truth reacheth
even unto the clouds" (ver. 5). I know not what Mercy of Him he meaneth,
which is in the heavens. For the Mercy of the Lord is also in the earth.
Thou hast it written, "The earth is full of the Mercy of the Lord."[8]
Of what Mercy then speaketh He, when He saith, "Thy Mercy, O Lord,
is in the heavens"? The gifts of God are partly temporal and earthly,
partly eternal and heavenly. Whoso for this worshippeth God, that he may
receive those temporal and earthly goods, which are open to all, is still
as it were like the brutes: he enjoyeth indeed the Mercy of God, but not
that which is excepted, which shall not be given, save only to the righteous,
to the holy, to the good. What are the gifts which abound to all? "He
maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust."[9] Who hath not this Mercy of God, first
that he hath being, that he is distinguished from the brutes, that he is
a rational animal, so as to understand God; secondly, that he enjoys this
light, this air, rain, fruits, diversity of seasons, and all the earthly
comforts, health of body, the affection of friends, the safety of his family?
All these are good, and they are God's gifts... .

7.
But this man rightly understood what mercy he should pray for from God. "Thy Mercy, O Lord, is in the Heavens; and Thy Truth reacheth
even to the clouds." That is, the Mercy which Thou givest to Thy Saints,
is Heavenly, not earthly; is Eternal, not temporal. And how couldest Thou
declare it unto men? Because "Thy Truth reacheth even unto the clouds." For
who could know the Heavenly Mercy of God, unless God should declare it
unto men? How did He declare it? By sending His truth even unto the clouds.
What are the clouds? The Preachers of the Word of God... . Truth reached
even to the clouds: therefore unto us could be declared the Mercy of God,
which is in Heaven and not in earth. And truly, Brethren, the clouds are
the Preachers of the Word of Truth. When God threateneth through His Preachers,
He thunders through the clouds. When God worketh miracles through His Preachers,
He lightneth through the clouds, He terrifieth through the clouds, and
watereth by the rain. Those Preachers, then, by whom is preached the Gospel
of God, are the clouds of God. Let us then hope for Mercy, but for that
which is in the Heavens.

8. "Thy Righteousness is like the mountains of God: Thy Judgments
are a great deep" (ver. 6). Who are the mountains of God? Those who
are called clouds, the same are also the mountains of God. The great Preachers
are the mountains of God. And as when the sun riseth, he first clothes
the mountains with light, and thence the light descends to the lowest parts
of the earth: so our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came, first irradiated
the height of the Apostles, first enlightened the mountains, and so His
Light descended to the valley of the world. And therefore saith He in a
certain Psalm, "I lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence
cometh my help."[1] But think not that the mountains themselves will
give thee help: for they receive what they may give, give not of their
own. And if thou remain in the mountains, thy hope will not be strong:
but in Him who enlighteneth the mountains, ought to be thy hope and presumption.
Thy help indeed will come to thee through the mountains, because the Scriptures
are administered to thee through the mountains, through the great Preachers
of the Truth: but fix not thy hope in them. Hear what He saith next following: "I
lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help." What
then? Do the mountains give thee help? No; hear what follows, "My
help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."[2] Through
the mountains cometh help, but not from the mountains. From whom then? "From
the Lord, which made Heaven and earth." ...

9. "Thy Judgments are like the great abyss." The abyss he calleth
the depth of sin, whither every one cometh by despising God; as in a certain
place it is said, "God gave them over to their own hearts' lusts,
to do the things which are not convenient."[3] ... Because then they
were proud and ungrateful, they were held worthy to be delivered up to
the lusts of their own hearts, and became a great abyss, so that they not
only sinned, but also worked craftily, lest they should understand their
iniquity, and hate it. That is the depth of wickedness, to be unwilling
to find it out and to hate it. But how one cometh to that depth, see; "Thy
Judgments are the great abyss." As the mountains are by the Righteousness
of God,[4] who through His Grace become great: so also through His Judgments
come they unto the depth, who sink lowest. By this then let the mountains
delight thee, by this turn away from the abyss, and turn thyself unto that,
of which it is said, "My help cometh from the Lord." But whereby? "I
have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains." What meaneth this? I
will speak plainly.[5] In the Church of God thou findest an abyss, thou
findest also mountains; thou findest there but few good, because the mountains
are few, the abyss broad; that is, thou findest many living ill after the
wrath of God, because they have so worked that they are delivered up to
the lusts of their own heart; so now they defend their sins and confess
them not; but say, Why? What have I done? Such an one did this, and such
an one did that. Now will they even defend what the Divine Word reproves.
This is the abyss. Therefore in a certain place[6] saith the Scripture
(hear this abyss), "The sinner when he cometh unto the depth of sin
despiseth." See, "Thy Judgments are like the great abyss." But
yet not art thou a mountain; not yet art thou in the abyss; fly from the
abyss, tend towards the mountains; but yet remain not on the mountains. "For
thy help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."

10.
Because he said, Thy Mercy is in the Heavens, that it may be known to
be also on earth,
he said, "O Lord, Thou surest man and beast,[7]
as Thy Mercy is multiplied, O God" (ver. 7). Great is Thy Mercy, and
manifold is Thy Mercy, O God; and that showest Thou both to man and beast.
For from whom is the saving of men? From God. Is not the saving of beasts
also from God? For He who made man, made also beasts; He who made both,
saveth both; but the saving of beasts is temporal. But there are who as
a great thing ask this of God, which He hath given to beasts. "Thy
Mercy, O God, is multiplied," so that not only unto men, but unto
beasts also is given the same saving which is given to men, a carnal and
temporal saving.

11.
Have not men then somewhat reserved with God, which beasts deserve not,
and where-unto
beasts arrive
not? They have evidently. And where is
that which they have. "The children of men put their trust under the
shadow of Thy wings." Attend, my Beloved, to this most pleasant sentence; "Thou
savest man and beast." First, he spake of "man and beast," then
of "the children of men;" as though "men" were one, "the
children of mea" other. Sometimes in Scripture children of men is
said generally of all men, sometimes in some proper manner, with some proper
signification, so that not all men are understood; chiefly when there is
a distinction. For not without reason is it here put; "O Lord, Thou
savest man and beast: but the children of men;" as though setting
aside the first, he keepeth separate the children of men. Separate from
whom? Not only from beasts, but also from men, who seek from God the saving
of beasts, and desire this as a great thing. Who then are the children
of men? Those who put their trust under the shadow of His wings. For those
men together with beasts rejoice in possession, but the children of men
rejoice in hope: those follow after present goods with beasts, these hope
for future goods with Angels. ...

12. "They shall be satiated [1] with the fulness of Thy House" (ver.
8). He promiseth us some great thing. He would speak it, and He speaketh
it not. Can He not, or do not we receive it? I dare, my Brethren, to say,
even of holy tongues and hearts, by which Truth is declared to us, that
it can neither be spoken, which they declared, nor even thought of. For
it is a great thing, and ineffable; and even they saw through a glass darkly,
as saith the Apostle, "For now we see through a glass darkly; but
then face to face."[2] Lo, they who saw through a glass darkly, thus
burst forth. What then shall we be, when we shall see face to face? That
with which they travailed in heart, and could not with their tongue bring
forth, that men might receive it. For what necessity was there that he
should say, "They shall be satiated with the fulness of Thy House"?
He sought a word whereby to express from human things what he would say;
and because he saw that men drowning themselves in drunkenness receive
indeed wine without measure, but lose their senses, he saw what to say;
for when shall have been received that ineffable joy, then shall be lost
in a manner the human soul, it shall become Divine, and be satiated with
the fulness of God's House. Wherefore also in another Psalm it is said, "Thy
cup inebriating, how excellent is it!"[3] With this cup were the Martyrs
satiated when going to their passion, they knew not their own. What so
inebriated as not to know a wife weeping, not children, not parents? They
knew them not they thought not that they were before their eyes. Wonder
not: they were inebriated Wherewith were they so? Lo, they had received
a cup wherewith they were satiated Wherefore he also gives thanks to God,
saying "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards
me? I will take the cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord." Therefore,
Brethren of men," let us be "children and let us trust under
the shadow of His wings and be satiated with the fulness of His House As
I could, I have spoken; and as far as I can I see; and how far I see, I
cannot speak. "And of the torrent of Thy Pleasure shalt Thou give
them to drink." A torrent we call water coming with a flood. There
will be a flood of God's Mercy to overflow and inebriate those who now
put their trust under the shadow of His wings. What is that Pleasure? As
it were a torrent inebriating the thirsty. Let him then who thirsts now,
lay up hope: whoso thirsts now, let him have hope; when inebriated, he
shall have possession: before he have possession, let him thirst in hope. "Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled."[6]

13.
With what fountain then wilt thou be overflowed, and whence runneth such
a torrent of His
Pleasure? "For with Thee," saith he, "is
the fountain of Life." What is the fountain of Life, but Christ? He
came to thee in the flesh, that He might bedew thy thirsty lips: He will
satisfy thee trusting, who bedewed thee thirsting. "For with Thee
is the fountain of Life; in Thy Light shall we see light" (ver. 9).
Here a fountain is one thing, light another: there not so. For that which
is the Fountain, the same is also Light: and whatever thou wilt thou callest
It, for It is not what thou callest It: for thou canst not find a fit name:
for It remaineth not in one name. If thou shouldest say, that It is Light
only, it would be said to thee, Then without cause am I told to hunger
and thirst, for who is there that eateth light? It is said to me plainly,
directly, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."[1]
If It is Light, my eyes must I prepare. Prepare also lips; for That which
is Light is also a Fountain: a Fountain, because It satisfieth the thirsty:
Light, because It enlighteneth the blind. Here sometimes, light is in one
place, a fountain in another. For sometimes fountains run even in darkness;
and sometimes in the desert thou sufferest the sun, findest no fountain:
here then can these two be separated: there thou shall not be wearied,
for there is a Fountain; there thou shall not be darkened, for there is
Light.

14. "Show forth Thy Mercy unto them that know Thee; Thy Righteousness
to them that are of a fight heart" (ver. 10). As I have said, Those
are of a right heart who follow in this life the Will of God. The will
of God is sometimes that thou shouldest be whole, sometimes that thou shouldest
be sick. If when thou art whole God's Will be sweet, and when thou art
sick God's Will be bitter; thou art not of a right heart. Wherefore? Because
thou wilt not make right thy will according to God's Will, but wilt bend
God's Will to thine. That is right, but thou art crooked: thy will must
be made right to That, not That made crooked to thee; and thou wilt have
a right heart. It is well with thee in this world; be God blessed, who
comforteth thee: it goeth hardly with thee in this world; be God blessed,
because He[2] chasteneth and proveth thee; and so wilt thou be of a right
heart, saying, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His Praise shall
be ever in my mouth."[3]

15. "Let not the foot of pride come against me" (ver. 11). But
now he said, The children of men shall put their trust under the shadow
of Thy wings: they shall be satiated with the fulness of Thy House. When
one hath begun to be plentifully overflowed with that Fountain, let him
take heed lest he grow proud. For the same was not wanting to Adam, the
first man: but the foot of pride came against him, and the hand of the
sinner removed him, that is, the proud hand of the devil. As he who seduced
him, said of himself, "I will sit in the sides of the north;"[4]
so he persuaded him, by saying, "Taste, and ye shall be as gods."[5]
By pride then have we so fallen as to arrive at this mortality. And because
pride had wounded us, humility maketh us whole. God came humbly, that from
such great wound of pride He might heal man. He came, for "The Word
was made Flesh, and dwelt among us."[6] He was taken by the Jews;
He was reviled of them. Ye heard when the Gospel was read, what they said,
and to Whom they said, "Thou hast a devil:"[7] and He said not,
Ye have a devil, for ye are still in your sins, and the devil possesseth
your hearts. He said not this, which if He had said, He had said truly:
but it was not meet that He should say it, lest He should seem not to preach
Truth, but to retort evil speaking. He let go what He heard as though He
heard it not. For a Physician was He, and to cure the madman had He come.
As a Physician careth not what he may hear from the madman; but how the
madman may recover and become sane; nor even if he receive a blow from
the madman, careth he; but while he to him giveth new wounds, he cureth
his old fever: so also the Lord came to the 'sick man, to the madman came
He, that whatever He might hear, whatever He might suffer, He should despise;
by this very thing teaching us humility, that being taught by humility,
we might be healed from pride: from which he here prayeth to be delivered,
saying, "Let not the foot of pride come against me; neither let the
hand of the sinner remove me." For if the foot of pride come, the
hand of the sinner removeth. What is the hand of the sinner? The working
of him that adviseth ill. Hast thou become proud? Quickly he corrupteth
thee who adviseth ill. Humbly fix thyself in God, and care not much what
is said to thee. Hence is that which is elsewhere spoken, "From my
secret sins cleanse Thou me; and from others' sins also keep Thy servant."[8]
What is, "From my secret sins"? "Let not the foot of pride
come against me." What is, "From other men's sins also keep Thy
servant"? "Let not the hand of the wicked remove me." Keep
that which is within, and thou shall not fear from without.

16.
But wherefore so greatly fearest thou this? Because it is said, "Thereby
have fallen all that work iniquity" (ver. 12); so that they have come
into that abyss of which it is said, "Thy judgments are like the great
abyss:" so that they have come even to that deep wherein sinners who
despise have fallen. "Have fallen." Whereby did they first fall?
By the foot of pride. Hear the foot of pride. "When they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God." Therefore came against them the foot
of pride, whereby they came into the depth. "God gave them over to
their own hearts' lusts, to do those things which are not convenient."[9]
The root of sin, and the head of sin feared he who said, "Let not
the foot of pride come against me." Wherefore said he, "the foot"?
Because by walking proudly man deserted God, and departed from Him. His
foot, called he his affection. "Let not the foot of pride come against
me: let not the hand of the wicked remove me:" that is, let not the
works of the wicked remove me from Thee, that I should wish to imitate
them. But wherefore said he this against pride, "Thereby have fallen
all that work iniquity"? Because those who now are ungodly, have fallen
by pride. Therefore when the Lord would caution His Church, He said, "It
shall watch thy head, and thou shall watch[1] his heel."[2] The serpent
watcheth when the foot of pride may come against thee, when thou mayest
fall, that he may cast thee down. But watch thou his head: the beginning
of all sin is pride.[3] "Thereby have fallen all that work iniquity:
they are driven out, and are not able to stand." He first, who in
the Truth stood not, then, through him, they whom God sent out of Paradise.
Whence he, the humble, who said that he was not worthy to unloose His shoe's
latchet, is not driven out, but standeth and heareth Him, and rejoiceth
greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice;[4] not because of his own, lest
the foot of pride come against him, and he be driven out, and be not able
to stand. ...

PSALM XXXVII. [5]

On the First Part of the Psalm.

1.
With tenor do they hear of the coming of the last day, who will not be
secure by living
well:
and who fain would live ill, long. But it was
for useful purposes that God willed that day to remain unknown; that the
heart may be ever ready to expect that of which it knows it is to come,
but knows not when it is to come. Seeing, however, that our Lord Jesus
Christ was sent to us to be our "Master,"[6] He said, that "of
the day not even the Son of Man knew,"[7] because it was not part
of His office as our Master that through Him it should become known to
us. For indeed the Father knoweth nothing that the Son knoweth not; since
that is the Very Knowledge of the Father Itself, which is His Wisdom; now
His Son, His Word, is "His Wisdom." But because it was not for
our good to know that, which however was known to Him who came indeed to
teach us, though not to teach us that which it was not good for us to know,
He not only, as a Master, taught us something, but also, as a Master, left
something untaught. For, as a Master, He knew how both to teach us what
was good for us, and not to teach us what was injurious. Now thus, according
to a certain form of speech, the Son[8] is said not to know what He does
not teach: that is, in the same way that we are daily in the habit of speaking,
He is said not to know what He causes us not to know.[9] ...

2. This it is that disturbs you who are a Christian; that you see men
of bad lives prospering, and surrounded with abundance of things like these;
you see them sound in health, distinguished with proud honours; you see
their family unvisited by misfortune; the happiness of their relatives,
the obsequious attendance of their dependants, their most commanding influence,
theirs life uninterrupted by any sad event; you see their characters most
profligate, their external resources most affluent; and your heart says
that there is no Divine judgment; that all things are carried to and fro
by accidents, and blown about in disorderly; and irregular motions. For
if God, thou sayest, regarded human affairs, would his iniquity flourish,
and my innocence suffer? Every sickness of the soul hath in Scripture its
proper remedy. Let him then whose sickness is of that kind that he says
in his heart things like these, let him drink this Psalm by way of potion.
...

3. "Be not envious because of evil-doers, neither be envious against
the workers of iniquity" (ver. 1). "For they shall soon wither
like the grass, and shall fade like the herbs of the meadow" (ver.
2). That which to thee seemeth long, is "soon" in the sight of
God. Conform[10] thou thyself to God; and it will be "soon" to
thee. That which he here calls "grass," that we understand by
the "herbs of the meadow." They are some worthless things, occupying
the surface only of the ground, they have no depth of root. In the winter
then they are green; but when the summer sun shall begin to scorch, they
will wither away. For now it is the season of winter. Thy glory cloth not
as yet appear. But if thy love hath but a deep root, like that of many
trees during winter, the frost passes away, the summer (that is, the Day
of Judgment) will come; then will the greenness of the grass wither away.
Then will the glory of the trees appear. "For ye" (saith the
Apostle) "are dead."[11] even as trees seem to be in winter,
as it were dead, as it were withered. What is our hope then, if we are
dead? The root is within; where our root is, there is our life also, for
there our love is fixed. "And your life is hid with Christ in God."[11]
When shall he wither who is thus rooted? But when will our spring be? When
our summer? When will the honour of foliage clothe us around, and the fulness
of fruit make us rich? When shall this come to pass? Hear what follows: "When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him
in glory." And what then shall we do now? "Be not envious because
of the evil-doers, neither be envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon wither like the grass, and fade like the herb of the
meadow."

4.
What shouldest thou do then? "Trust in the Lord" (ver. 3).
For they too trust, but not "in the Lord." Their hope is perishable.
Their hope is short-lived, frail, fleeting, transitory, baseless. "Trust
thou in the Lord." "Behold," thou sayest, "I do trust;
what am I to do?"

"And do good." Do not do that evil which thou beholdest in those
men, who are prosperous in wickedness. "Do good, and dwell in the
land." Lest haply thou shouldest be doing good without "dwelling
in the land." For it is the Church that is the Lord's land. It is
her whom He, the Father, the tiller of it, waters and cultivates. For there
are many that, as it were, do good works, but yet, in that they do not "dwell
in the land," they do not belong to the husbandman. Therefore do thou
thy good, not outside of the land, but do thou "dwell in the land." And
what shall I have?

"And thou shalt be fed in its riches." What are the riches of
that land? Her riches are her Lord! Her riches are her God l He it is to
whom it is said, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and
of my cup."[1] In a late discourse we suggested to you, dearly beloved,
that God is our possession,[2] and that we are at the same time God's possession.
Hear how that He is Himself the riches of that land.

"Delight thyself in the Lord" (ver. 4). As if thou hadst put
the question, and hadst said "Show me the riches of that land, in
which thou biddest me dwell, he says, "Delight thyself in the Lord."

5. "And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Understand
in their proper signification,[3] "the desires of thine heart." Distinguish
the "desires of thine heart" from the desires of thy flesh; distinguish
as much as thou canst. It is not without a meaning that it is said in a
certain Psalm, "God is" (the strength) "of mine heart." For
there it says in what follows: "And God is my portion for ever." For
instance: One labours under bodily blindness. He asks that he may receive
his sight. Let him ask it; for God does that too, and gives those blessings
also. But these things are asked for even by the wicked. This is a desire
of the flesh. One is sick, and prays to be made sound. From the point of
death he is restored to health. That too is a desire of the flesh, as are
all of such a kind. What is "the desire of the heart"? As the
desire of the flesh is to wish to have one's eyesight restored, to enable
him, that is, to see that light, which can be seen by such eyes; so "the
desire of the heart" relates to a different sort of light. For, "Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Delight thou thyself in
the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

6. "Behold" (you say), "I do long after it, I do ask for
it, I do desire it. Shall I then accomplish it?" No. Who shall then? "Reveal
thy way unto the Lord: trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass" (ver.
5). Mention to Him what thou sufferest, mention to Him what thou dost desire.
For what is it that thou sufferest? "The flesh lusteth against the
spirit, and the spirit against the flesh."[4] What is it then that
thou dost desire? "Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?"[5] And because it is He "Himself" that "will
bring it to pass," when thou shall have "revealed thy ways unto
Him;" hear what follows: "The grace of God through Jesus Christ
our Lord." What is it then that He is to bring to pass, since it is
said, "Reveal thy way unto Him, and He will bring it to pass"?
What will He bring to pass?

"And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light" (ver.
6). For now, "thy righteousness" is hid. Now it is a thing of
faith; not yet of sight. You believe something that you may do it. You
do not yet see that in which you believe. But when thou shall begin to
see that, which thou didst believe before, "thy righteousness will
be brought forth to the light," because it is thy faith that was [6]
thy righteousness. For "the just lives by faith."

7. "And He shall bring forth thy judgment as the noon-day." That
is to say, "as the clear light." It was too little to say, "as
the light." For we call it "light" already, even when it
but dawns: we call it light even while the sun is rising. But never is
the light brighter than at mid-day. Therefore He will not only "bring
forth thy righteousness as the light," but "thy judgment shall
be as the noon-day." For now dost thou make thy "judgment" to
follow Christ. This is thy purposé: this is thy choice: this is
thy "judgment."...

8. "What should I do then?" Hear what thou shouldest do. "Submit
thee to the Lord, and entreat Him" (ver. 7). Be this thy life, to
obey His commandments. For this is to submit thee to Him; and to entreat
Him until He give thee what He hath promised. Let good works "continue;"[1]
let prayer "continue." For "men ought always to pray, and
not to faint."[2] Wherein dost thou show that thou art "submitted
to Him"? In doing what He hath commanded. But haply thou dost not
receive thy wages as yet, because as yet thou art not able. For He is already
able to give them; but thou art not already able to receive them. Exercise
thou thyself in works. Labour in the vineyard; at the close of the day
crave thy wages. "Faithful is He" who brought thee into the vineyard. "Submit
thee to the Lord, and entreat Him."

9. "See! I do so; I do 'submit to the Lord, and I do entreat.' But
what do you think? That neighbour of mine is a wicked man, living a bad
life, and prosperous! His thefts, adulteries, robberies, are known to me.
Lifted up above every one, proud, and raised on high by wickedness, he
deigns not to notice me. In these circumstances, how shall I hold out with
patience?" This is a sickness; drink, by way of remedy. "Fret
not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way." He prospereth,
but it is "in his way:" thou sufferest, but it is in God's way!
His portion is prosperity on his way, misery on arriving at its end: yours,
toil on the road, happiness in its termination. "The Lord knoweth
the way of the righteous; and the way of the ungodly shall perish."[3]
Thou walkest those ways which "the Lord knoweth," and if thou
dost suffer toil in them, they do not deceive thee. The "way of the
ungodly" is but a transitory happiness; at the end of the way the
happiness is at an end also. Why? Because that way is "the broad road;" its
termination leads to the pit of hell. Now, thy way is narrow; and "few
there be" that enter in through it:[4] but into how ample a field
it comes at the last, thou oughtest to consider. "Fret not thyself
at him who prospereth in his way; because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass."

"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath" (ver. 8). Wherefore art
thou wroth? Wherefore is it that, through that passion and indignation,
thou dost blaspheme, or almost blaspheme? Against "the man who bringeth
wicked devices to pass, cease from anger, and forsake wrath." Knowest
thou not whither that wrath tempts thee on? Thou art on the point of saying
unto God, that He is unjust. It tends to that. "Look! why is that
man prosperous, and this man in adversity?" Consider what thought
it begets: stifle the wicked notion. "Cease from anger, and forsake
wrath:" so that now returning to thy senses, thou mayest say, "Mine
eye is disturbed because of wrath."[5] What eye is that, but the eye
of faith? To the eye of thy faith I appeal.[6] Thou didst believe in Christ:
why didst thou believe? What did He promise thee? If it was the happiness
of this world that Christ promised thee, then murmur against Christ; yes!
murmur against Him, when thou seest the wicked flourishing. What of happiness
did He promise? What, save in the Resurrection of the Dead? But what in
this life? That which was His portion. His portion, I say! Dost thou, servant
and disciple, disdain what thy Lord, what thy Master bore? ...

"For evil-doers shall be cut off" (ver. 9). "But I see
their prosperity." Believe Him who saith, "they shall be cut
off;" Him who seeth better than thou, since His eye anger cannot cloud. "For
evil-doers shall be cut off. But those that wait upon the Lord,"--not
upon any one that can deceive them; but verily on Him who is the Truth
itself,--"But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the
land." What "land," but that Jerusalem, with the love of
which whosoever is inflamed, shall come to peace at the last.

10. "But how long is the sinner to flourish? How long shall I have
to endure?" Thou art impatient;[7] that which seems long to thee,
will soon come to pass. It is infirmity makes that seem long, which is
really short, as is found in the case of the longings of sick men. Nothing
seems so long as the mixing of the potion for him when athirst. For all
that his attendants are making all speed, lest haply the patient be angry; "When
will it be done? (he cries). When will it be drest? When will it be served?" Those
who are waiting upon you are making haste, but your infirmity fancies that
long which is being done with expedition. Behold ye, therefore, our Physician
complying with the infirmity of the patient, saying, "How long shall
I have to endure? How long will it be?"

"Yet a little while, and the sinner shall not be" (ver. 10).
Is it certainly among sinners, and because of the sinner, that thou murmurest? "A
little while, and he shall not be." Lest haply because I said, "They
that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the land," thou shouldest
think that waiting to be of very long duration. Wait "a little while," thou
shalt receive without end what thou waitest for. A little while, a moderate
space. Review the years from Adam's time up to this day; run through the
Scriptures. It is almost yesterday that he fell from Paradise! So many
ages have been measured out, and unrolled.[1] Where now are the past ages?
Even so, however, shall the few which remain, pass away also. Hadst thou
been living throughout all that time, since Adam was banished from Paradise
up to this present day, thou wouldest certainly see that the life, which
had thus flown away, had not been of long duration. But how long is the
duration of each individual's life? Add any number of years you please:
prolong old age to its longest duration: what is it? Is it not but a morning
breeze? Be it so, however, that the Day of Judgment is far off, when the
reward of the righteous and of the unrighteous is to come: your last day
at all events cannot be far off. Make thyself ready against this! For such
as thou shall have departed from this life, shalt thou be restored to the
other. At the close of that short life, you will not yet be, where the
Saints shall be, to whom it shall be said, "Come, ye blessed of My
Father: inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the
world."[2] You will not yet be there? Who does not know that? But
you may already be there, where that beggar, once "covered with sores," was
seen at a distance, at rest, by that proud and unfruitful "rich man" in
the midst of his torments.[3] Surely hid in that rest thou waitest in security
for the Day of Judgment, when thou art to receive again a body, to be changed
so as to be made equal to an Angel. How long then is that for which we
are impatient, and are saying, "When will it come? Will it tarry long?" This
our sons will say hereafter, and our sons' sons will say too; and, though
each one of these in succession will say this same thing, that "little
while" that is yet to be, passes away, as all that is already past
hath passed away already! O thou sick one! "Yet a little while, and
the sinner shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place,
and thou shalt not find him." ...

11. "But the meek shall inherit the land"[4] (ver. 11). That
land is the one of which we have often spoken, the holy Jerusalem, which
is to be released from these her pilgrimages, and to live for ever with
God, and on God. Therefore, "They shall inherit the land." What
shall be their delight? "And they shall delight themselves in the
abundance of peace." Let the ungodly man delight himself here in the
multitude of his gold, in the multitude of his silver, in the multitude
of his slaves, in the multitude, lastly, of his baths, his roses, his intoxicating
wines, his most sumptuous and luxurious banquets. Is this the power thou
enviest? Is this the glory-that delights thee? Would not his fate be worthy
to be deplored, even if he were to be so for ever? What shall be thy delights? "And
they shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Peace shall
be thy gold. Peace shall be thy silver. Peace shall be thy lands. Peace
shall be thy life, thy God Peace. Peace shall be to thee whatsoever thou
dost desire. ...

On the Second Part of the Psalm. [5]

1.
Then follow these words: "The wicked plotteth against the just,
and gnasheth upon him with his teeth" (ver. 12): "But the Lord
shall laugh at him" (ver. 13). At whom? Surely at the sinner, "gnashing
upon" the other "with his teeth." But wherefore shall the
Lord" laugh at him"? "For He foreseeth that his day is coming." He
seems indeed full of wrath, while, ignorant of the morrow that is in store
for him, he is threatening the just. But the Lord beholds and "foresees
his day." "What day?" That in which "He will render
to every man according to his works." For he is "treasuring up
unto himself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just
judgment of God."[6] But it is the Lord that foresees it; thou dost
not foresee it. It hath been revealed to thee by Him who foresees it. Thou
didst not know of the "day of the unrighteous," in which he is
to suffer punishment. But He who knows it hath revealed it to thee. It
is a main part of knowledge to join thyself to Him who hath knowledge.
He hath the eyes of knowledge: have thou the eyes of a believing mind.
That which God "sees," be thou willing to believe. For the day
of the unjust, which God foresees, will come. What day is that? The day
for all vengeance! For it is necessary that vengeance should be taken upon
the ungodly, that vengeance be taken upon the unjust, whether he turn,
or whether he turn not. For if he shall turn from his ways, that very thing,
that his "injustice is come to an end," is the infliction of
vengeance. ...

2. "The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,
to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright heart" (ver.
14). "Their weapon shall enter into their own heart" (ver. 15).
It is an easy thing for his weapon, that is, his sword, to reach thy body,
even as the sword of the persecutors reached the body of the Martyrs, but
when the body had been smitten, "the heart" remained unhurt;
but his heart who "drew out the sword against" the body of the
just did not clearly remain unhurt. This is attested by this very Psalm.
It saith, Their weapon, that is, "Their sword shall," not go
into their body, but, "their weapon shall go into their own heart." They
would fain have slain him in the body. Let them die the death of the soul.
For those whose bodies they sought to kill, the Lord hath freed from anxiety,
saying, "Fear not them who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul."[1]
...

3. "And their bows shall be broken." What is meant by, "And
their bows shall be broken"? Their plots shall be frustrated. For
above He haft-said, "The wicked have drawn out the sword and bent
their bows." By the "drawing out of the sword" he would
have understood open hostility; but by the" bending of the bow," secret
conspiracies. See! His sword destroys himself, and his laying of snares
is frustrated. What is meant by frustrated? That it does no mischief to
the righteous. How then, for instance (you ask), did it do no mischief
to the man, whom it thus stripped of his goods, whom it reduced to straitened
circumstances by taking away his possessions? He has still cause to sing, "A
little that a righteous man hath, is better than great riches of the ungodly" (ver.
16).

4.
... "For the arms of the wicked shall be broken" (ver. 17).
Now by "their arms" is meant their power. What will he do in
hell? Will it be what the rich man had to do, he who was wont "to
fare sumptuously" in the upper world, and in hell "was tormented"?[2]
Therefore their arms shall be broken; "but the Lord upholdeth the
righteous." How does He "uphold" them? What saith He unto
them? Even what is said in another Psalm, "Wait on the Lord, be of
good courage; and let thine heart be strengthened. Wait, I say, on the
Lord."[3] What is meant by this, "Wait on the Lord"? Thou
sufferest but for a time; thou shalt rest for ever: thy trouble is short;
thy happiness is to be everlasting. It is but for "a little while" thou
art to sorrow; thy joy shall have no end. But in the midst of trouble does
thy "foot" begin to "slip"? The example even of Christ's
sufferings is set before thee. Consider what He endured for thee, in whom
no cause was found why He should endure it? How great soever be thy sufferings,
thou wilt not come to those insults, those scourgings, to that robe of
shame, to that crown of thorns, and last of all to that Cross, which He
endured; because that is now removed from the number of human punishments.[4]
For though under the ancients criminals were crucified, in the present
day no one is crucified. It was honoured, and it came to an end. It came
to an end as a punishment; it is continued in glory. It hath removed from
the place of execution to the foreheads of Emperors. He who hath invested
His very sufferings with such honour, what doth He reserve for His faithful
servants? ...

5.
But observe whether that was fulfilled in his case which the Psalm now
speaks of. "The Lord strengtheneth the righteous.--Not only so" (saith
that same Paul, whilst suffering many evils), "but we glory in tribulations
also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience;
and experience hope; but hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us."[5]
Justly is it said by him, now righteous, now "strengthened." As
therefore those who persecuted him did no harm to him, when now "strengthened," so
neither did he himself do any harm to those whom he persecuted. "But
the Lord," he saith, "strengtheneth the righteous." ...

6.
Therefore "the Lord does strengthen the righteous." In what
way does He strengthen them? "The Lord knoweth the ways[6] of the
spotless ones" (ver. 18). When they suffer ills, they are believed
to be walking ill ways by those who are ignorant, by those who have not
knowledge to discern "the ways of the spotless ones." He who "knoweth
those ways," knoweth by what way to lead His own, "them that
are gentle," in the right way. Whence in another Psalm he said, "The
meek shall He guide in judgment; them that are gentle will He teach His
way."[7] How, think you, was that beggar, who lay covered with sores
before the rich man's door,[8] spurned by the passers by! How did they,
probably, close their nostrils and spit at him! The Lord, however, knew
how to reserve[9] Paradise for him. How did they, on the other hand, desire
for themselves the life of him who was "clad in purple and fine linen,
and fared sumptuously every day!"[10] But the Lord, who foresaw that
man's "day coming," knew the torments, the torments without end,
that were in store for him. Therefore "The Lord knoweth the ways of
the upright."

7. "And their inheritance shall be for ever" (ver. 18). This
we hold by faith. Doth the Lord too know it by faith? The Lord knoweth
those things with as clear a manifestation, as we cannot speak of even
when we shall be made equal to the Angels. For the things that shall be
manifest to us, shall not be equally manifest to us as they are now to
Him, who is incapable of change. Yet even of us ourselves what is said? "Beloved,
now are we the sons of God: and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is."[1] There is therefore surely some blissful vision
reserved for us; and if it can be now in some measure conceived, "darkly
and through a glass,"[2] yet cannot we in any way express in language
the ravishing beauty of that bliss, which God reserves for them that fear
Him, which He consummates in those that hope in Him, It is for that destination
that our hearts are being disciplined in all the troubles and trials of
this life. Wonder not that it is in trouble that thou art disciplined for
it. It is for something glorious that thou art being disciplined. Whence
comes that speech of the now strengthened righteous man: "The sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall
be revealed in us"?[3] What is that promised glory to be, but to be
made equal to the Angels and to see God? How great a benefit doth he bestow
on the blind man, who makes his eyes sound so as to be able to see the
light of this life. ... What reward then shall we give unto that Physician
who restores soundness to our inward eyes, to enable them to see a certain
eternal Light, which is Himself? ...

8. "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time" (ver. 19). In
the day of trouble, in the day of distress, they shall not be "ashamed," as
he is ashamed whose hope deceives him. Who is the man that is "ashamed"?
He who saith, "I have not found that which I was in hopes of." Nor
undeservedly either; for thou didst hope it from thyself or from man, thy
friend. But "cursed is he that putteth his trust in man."[4]
Thou art ashamed, because thy hope hath deceived thee; thy hope that was
set on a lie. For "every man is a liar."[5] But if thou dost
place thy hopes on thy God, thou art not made "ashamed." For
He in whom thou hast put thy trust, cannot be deceived.[6] Whence also
the man whom we mentioned just above, the now "strengthened" righteous
man, when fallen on an evil time, on the day of tribulation, what saith
he to show that he was not "ashamed"? "We glory in tribulation;
knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope; but hope maketh not ashamed." Whence is it that hope "maketh
not ashamed"? Because it is placed on God. Therefore follows immediately, "Because
the love of God is spread in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given
unto us."[7] The Holy Spirit hath been given to us already: how should
He deceive us, of whom we possess such an "earnest" already? "They
shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall
be satisfied." ...

9. "For the wicked shall perish. But the enemies of the Lord, when
they shall begin to glory, and to be lifted up, immediately shall consume
away utterly, even as the smoke" (ver. 20). Recognise from the comparison
itself the thing which he intimates. Smoke, breaking forth from the place
where fire has been, rises up on high, and by the very act of rising up,
it swells into a large volume: but the larger that volume is, the more
unsubstantial does it become; for from that very largeness of volume, which
has no foundation or consistency, but is merely loose, shifting and evanescent,
it passes into air, and dissolves; so that you perceive its very largeness
to have been fatal to it. For the higher it ascends, the farther it is
extended, the wider the circumference which it spreads itself over, the
thinner, and the more rare and wasting and evanescent does it become. "But
the enemies of the Lord, when they shall begin to glory, and to be lifted
up, immediately shall consume away utterly even as the smoke." Of
such as these was it said, "As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses,
so do these also resist the Truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning
the faith."[8] But how is it that they resist the Truth, except by
the vain inflation of their swelling pride, while they raise themselves
up on high, as if great and righteous persons, though on the point of passing
away into empty air? But what saith he of them? As if speaking of smoke,
he says, "They shall proceed no farther, for their folly shall be
manifest unto all men, even as theirs also was." ...

10. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again" (ver. 20).
He receiveth, and will not repay. What is it he will not repay? Thanksgiving.
For what is it that God would have of thee, what doth He require of thee,
except that He may do thee good? And how great are the benefits which the
sinner hath received, and which he will not repay! He hath received the
gift of being; he hath received the gift of being a man; and of a being
highly distinguished above the brutes; he hath received the form of a body,
and the distinction of the senses in the body, eyes for seeing, ears for
hearing, the nostrils for smelling, the palate for tasting, the hands for
touching, and the feet for walking; and even the very health and soundness
of the body. But up to this point we have these things in common even with
the brute; he hath received yet more than this; a mind capable of understanding,
capable of Truth, capable of distinguishing right from wrong; capable of
seeking after, of longing for, its Creator, of praising Him, and fixing
itself upon Him. All this the wicked man hath received as well as others;
but by not living well, he fails to repay that which he owes. Thus it is, "the
wicked borroweth, and payeth not again:" he will not requite Him from
whom he hath received; he will not return thanks; nay, he will even render
evil for good, blasphemies, murmuring against God, indignation. Thus it
is that he "borroweth, and payeth not again; but the righteous showeth
mercy, and lendeth" (ver. 21). The one therefore hath nothing; the
other hath. See, on the one side, destitution: see, on the other, wealth.
The one receiveth and "payeth not again:" the "other showeth
mercy, and lendeth:" and he hath more than enough. What if he is poor?
Even so he is rich; do you but look at his riches with the eyes of Religion.
For thou lookest at the empty chest; but dost not look at the conscience,
that is full of God. ...

11. "For such as shall bless Him[1] shall inherit the land" (ver.
23), that is,[2] they shall possess that righteous One: the only One who
both is truly righteous, and maketh righteous: who both was poor in this
world, and brought great riches to it, wherewith to make those rich whom
He found poor. For it is He who hath enriched the hearts of the poor with
the Holy Spirit; and having emptied out their souls by confession of sins,
hath filled them with the richness of righteousness: He who was able to
enrich the fisherman, who, by forsaking his nets, spurned what he possessed
already, but sought to draw up what he possessed not. For "God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."[3]
And it was not by an orator that He gained to Himself the fisherman; but
by the fisherman that He gained to Himself the orator; by the fisherman
that He gained the Senator; by the fisherman that He gained the Emperor.
For "such as shall bless Him shall inherit the land;" they shall
be fellow-heirs with Him, in that "land of the living," of which
it is said in another Psalm, "Thou art my hope, my portion in the
land of the living."[4] ...

12.
Observe what follows: "The steps of a good man are ordered by
the Lord; and he delighteth in His way" (ver. 23). That man may himself "delight
in the Lord's way," his steps are ordered by the Lord Himself. For
if the Lord did not order the steps of man, so crooked are they naturally,
that they would always be going through crooked paths, and by pursuing
crooked ways, would be unable to return again. He however came, and called
us, and redeemed us, and shed His blood; He hath given this ransom; He
hath done this good, and suffered these evils. Consider Him in what He
hath done, He is God! Consider Him in what He hath suffered, He is Man!
Who is that God-Man? Hadst not thou, O man, forsaken God, God would not
have been made Man for thee! For that was too little for thee to requite,
or for Him to bestow, that He had made thee man; unless He Himself should
become Man for thee also. For it is He Himself that hath "ordered
our steps;" that we should "delight in His way." ...

13.
Now if man were to be through the whole of his life in toil, and in sufferings,
in pain,
in tortures,
in prison, in scourgings, in hunger,
and in thirst, every day and every hour through the whole length of life,
to the period of old age, yet the whole life of man is but a few days.
That labour being over, there is to come the Eternal Kingdom; there is
to come happiness without end; there is to come equality with the Angels;
there is to come Christ's inheritance, and Christ, our "joint Heir,"[5]
is to come. How great is the labour, for which thou receivest so great
a recompense? The Veterans who serve in the wars, and move in the midst
of wounds for so many years, enter upon the military service from their
youth, and quit it in old age: and to obtain a few days of repose in their
old age, when age itself begins to weigh down those whom the wars do not
break down, how great hardships do they endure; what marches, what frosts,
what burning suns; what privations, what wounds, and what dangers! And
while suffering all these things, they fix their thoughts on nothing but
those few days of repose in old age, at which they know not whether they
will ever arrive. Thus it is, the "steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and he delighteth in His way." This is the point with
which I commenced. If thou dost "delight in the way" of Christ,
and art truly a Christian (for he is a Christian indeed who does not despise
the way of Christ, but "delighteth in" following Christ's "way" through
His sufferings), do not thou go by any other way than that by which He
Himself hath also gone. It appears painful, but it is the very way of safety;
another perhaps is delightful, but it is full of robbers. "And he
delighteth in His way."

14. "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord
upholdeth his hand" (ver. 24). See what it is "to delight in" Christ's "way." Should
it happen that he suffers some tribulation; some forfeiture of honour,
some affliction, some loss, some contumely, or all those other accidents
incident to mankind frequently in this life, he sets the Lord before him,
what kind of trials He endured! and, "though he fall he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth his hand," because He
has suffered before him. For what shouldest thou fear, O man, whose steps
are ordered so, that thou shouldest "delight in the way of the Lord"?
What shouldest thou fear? Pain? Christ was scourged. Shouldest thou fear
contumelies? He was reproached with, "Thou hast a devil,"[1]
who was Himself casting out the devils. Haply thou fearest faction, and
the conspiracy of the wicked. Conspiracy was made against Him. Thou canst
not make clear the purity of thy conscience in some accusation, and sufferest
wrong and violence, because false witnesses are listened to against thee.
False witness was borne against Him first, not only before His death, but
also after His resurrection. ...

On the Third Part of the Psalm.[3]

1. "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (ver. 25).

If
it is spoken but in the person of one single individual, how long is
the whole life of
one man?
And what is there wonderful in the circumstance,
that a single man, fixed in some one part of the earth, should not, throughout
the whole space of his life, being so short as maws life is, have ever
seen "the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread," although
he may have advanced from youth to age. It is not anything worthy of marvel;
for it might have happened, that before his lifetime there should have
been some "righteous man seeking bread;" it might have happened,
that there had been some one in some other part of the earth not where
he himself was. Hear too another thing, which makes an impression upon
us. Any single one among you (look you) who has now grown old, may perhaps,
when, looking back upon the past course of his life, he turns over in his
thoughts the persons whom he has known, not find any instance of a righteous
man begging bread, or of his seed begging bread, suggest itself to him;
but nevertheless he turns to the inspired Scriptures, and finds that righteous
Abraham was straitened, and suffered hunger in his own country, and left
that land for another; he finds too that the son of the very same man,
Isaac, removed to other countries in search of bread, for the same cause
of hunger. And how will it be true to say, "I have never seen the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread"? And if he finds this
true in the duration of his own life, he finds it is otherwise in the inspired
writings, which are more trustworthy than human life is.

2.
What are we to do then? Let us be seconded by your pious attention, so
that we may discern
the
purpose of God in these verses of the Psalm,
what it is He would have us understand by them. For there is a fear, lest
any unstable person, not capable of understanding the Scriptures spiritually,
should appeal to human instances, and should observe the virtuous servants
of God to be sometimes in some necessity, and in want, so as to be compelled
to beg bread: should particularly call to mind the Apostle Paul, who says, "In
hunger and thirst; in cold and nakedness;"[3] and should stumble thereat,
saying to himself, "Is that certainly true[4] which I have been singing?
Is that certainly true, which I have been sounding forth in so devout a
voice, standing in church? 'I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor
his seed begging bread.'" Lest he should say in his heart, "Scripture
deceives us;" and all his limbs should be paralyzed to good works:
and when those limbs within him, those limbs of the inner man, shall have
been paralyzed (which is the more fearful paralysis), he should henceforth
leave off from good works, and say to himself, "Wherefore do I do
good works? Wherefore do I break my bread to the hungry, and clothe the
naked, and take home to mine house him who hath no shelter,[5] putting
faith in that which is written? I have never seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread;' whereas I see so many persons who live virtuously,
yet for the most part suffering from hunger. But if perhaps I am in error
in thinking the man who is living well, and the man who is living ill,
to be both of them living well, and if God knows him to be otherwise; that
is, knows him, whom I think just, to be unjust, what am I to make of Abraham's
case, who is commended by Scripture itself as a righteous person? What
am I to make of the Apostle Paul, who says, 'Be ye followers of me, even
as I also am of Christ.'[6] What? that I should myself be in evils such
as he endured, 'In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness'?"[3]

3.
Whilst therefore he thus thinks, and whilst his limbs are paralyzed to
the power of good
works,
can we, my brethren, as it were, lift up the
sick of the palsy; and, as it were, "lay open the roof" of this
Scripture, and let him down before the Lord? For you observe that it is
obscure. If obscure therefore, it is covered. And I behold a certain patient
paralytic in mind, and I see this roof, and am convinced that Christ is
concealed beneath the roof. Let me, as far as I am able, do that which
was praised in those who opened the roof, and let down the sick of the
palsy before Christ; that He might say unto him, "Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee."[1] For it was so that He made the
inner man whole of his palsy, by loosing his sins, by binding fast his
faith. ...

4.
But who is "the righteous" man, who "hath never been
seen forsaken, nor his seed begging bread"? If you understand what
is meant by "bread," you understand who is meant by him. For
the "bread" is the Word of God, which never departs from the
righteous man's mouth. ... See now if "holy meditation doth 'keep
thee'" in the rumination of this bread, then "hast thou never
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

5. "He is always merciful, and lendeth" (ver. 26). "Foeneratur" is
used in Latin indeed, both for him who lendeth, and for him who borroweth.
But in this passage the meaning is more plain, if we express it by "foenerat." What
matters it to us, what the grammarians please to rule? It were better for
us to be guilty of a barbarism, so that ye understand, than that in our
propriety of speech ye be left unprovided. Therefore, that "righteous
man is all day merciful, and (foenerat) lendeth." Let not the lenders
of money on usury, however, rejoice. For we find it is a particular kind
of lender that is spoken of, as it was a particular kind of bread; that
we may, in all passages, "remove the roof," and find our way
to Christ. I would not have you be lenders of money on usury; and I would
not have you be such for this reason, because God would not have you. ...Whence
does it appear that God would not have it so? It is said in another place, "He
that putteth not out his money to usury."[2] And how detestable, odious,
and execrable a thing it is, I believe that even usurers themselves know.
Again, on the other hand, I myself, nay rather our God Himself bids thee
be an usurer, and says to thee, "Lend unto God." If thou lendest
to man, hast thou hope? and shalt thou not have hope, if thou lendest to
God? If thou hast lent thy money on usury to man, that is, if thou hast
given the loan of thy money to one, from whom thou dost expect to receive
something more than thou hast given, not in money only, but anything, whether
it be wheat, or wine, or oil, or whatever else you please, if you expect
to receive more than you have given, you are an usurer, and in this particular
are not deserving of praise, but of censure. "What then," you
say, "am I to do, that I may 'lend' profitably?" Consider what
the usurer does. He undoubtedly desires to give a less sum, and to receive
a larger; do thou this also; give thou a little, receive much. See how
thy principal grows, and increases l Give "things temporal," receive "things
eternal:" give earth, receive heaven! And perhaps thou wouldest say, "To
whom shall I give them?" The self-same Lord, who bade thee not lend
on usury, comes forward as the Person to whom thou shouldest lend on usury!
Hear from Scripture in what way thou mayest "lend unto the Lord." "He
that hath pity on the poor, lendeth unto the Lord."[3] For the Lord
wanteth not aught of thee. But thou hast one who needs somewhat of thee:
thou extendest it to him; he receives it. For the poor hath nothing to
return to thee, and yet he would himself fain requite thee, and finds nothing
wherewith to do it: all that remains in his power is the good-will that
desires to pray for thee. Now when the poor man prays for thee, he, as
it were, says unto God, "Lord, I have borrowed this; be Thou surety
for me." Then, though you have no bond on the poor man to compel his
repayment, yet you have on a sponsible security. See, God from His own
Scriptures saith unto thee; "Give it, and fear not; I repay it. It
is to Me thou givest it." In what way do those who make themselves
sureties for others, express themselves? What is it that they say? "I
repay it: I take it upon myself. It is to me you are giving it." Do
we then suppose that God also says this, "I take it on Myself. It
is unto me thou givest it"? Assuredly, if Christ be God, of which
there is no doubt, He hath Himself said, "I was an hungred, and ye
gave Me meat."[4] And when they said unto Him, "When saw we Thee
hungry?"[5] that He might show Himself to be the Surety for the poor,
that He answers for all His members, that He is the Head, they the members,
and that when the members receive, the Head receiveth also; He says, "Inasmuch
as ye have done it to one of the least of these that belong to Me, ye have
done it unto Me."[6] Come, thou covetous usurer, consider what thou
hast given; consider what thou art to receive. Hadst thou given a small
sum of money, and he to whom thou hadst given it were to give thee for
that small sum a great villa, worth incomparably more money than thou hadst
given, how great thanks wouldest thou render, with how great joy wouldest
thou be transported! Hear what possession He to whom thou hast been lending
bestows. "Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive"[7]--What? The
same that they have given? God forbid! What you gave were earthly things,
which, if you had not given them, would have; become corrupted on earth.
For what could you have made of them, if you had not given them? That which
on earth would have been lost, has been preserved in heaven. Therefore
what we are to receive is that which hath been preserved. It is thy desert
that hath been preserved, thy desert hath been made thy treasure. For consider
what it is that thou art to receive. Receive--" the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world." On the other hand, what
shall be their sentence, who would not "lend "? "Go ye into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."[1] And what
is the kingdom which we receive called? Consider what follows: "And
these shall go into everlasting burning; but the righteous into life eternal."[2]
Make interest for this; purchase this. Give your money on usury to earn
this. You have Christ throned in heaven, begging on earth. We have discovered
in what way the righteous lendeth. "He is alway merciful, and lendeth."

6. "And his seed is blessed." Here too let not any carnal notion
suggest itself. We see many of the sons of the righteous dying of hunger;
in what sense then will his seed be blessed? His seed is that which remains
of him afterwards that wherewith he soweth here, and will hereafter reap.
For the Apostle says, "Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due
season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore time," he
says, "let us do good unto all men."[3] This is that "seed" of
thine which shall "be blessed." You commit it to the earth, and
gather ever so much more; and dost thou lose it in committing it to Christ?
See it expressly termed "seed" by the Apostle, when he was speaking
of alms. For this he saith; "He which soweth sparingly, shall reap
also sparingly and he which soweth in blessings? shall also reap in blessings."[5]
...

7.
Observe therefore what follows, and be not slothful. "Depart from
evil, and do good" (ver. 27). Do not think it to be enough for thee
to do, if thou dost not strip the man who is already clothed. For in not
stripping the man who is already clothed, thou hast indeed "departed
from evil:" but do not be barren, and wither. So choose not to strip
the man who is clothed already, as to clothe the naked. For this is to "depart
from evil, and to do good." And you will say, "What advantage
am I to derive from it?" He to whom thou lendest has already assured
thee of what He will give thee. He will give thee everlasting life. Give
to Him, and fear not! Hear too what follows: "Depart from evil, and
do good, and dwell for evermore." And think not when thou givest that
no one sees thee, or that God forsakes thee, when haply after thou hast
given to the poor, and some loss, or some sorrow for the property thou
hast lost, should follow, and thou shouldest say to thyself, "What
hath it profiled me to have done good works? I believe God doth not love
the men who do good." Whence comes that buzz, that subdued murmur
among you, except that those expressions are very common? Each one of you
at this present moment recognises these expressions, either in his own
lips, or on those of his friend. May God destroy them; may He root out
the thorns from His field; may He plant "the good seed," and "the
tree bearing fruit"! For wherefore art thou afflicted, O man, that
thou hast given some things away to the poor, and hast lost certain other
things? Seest thou not that it is what thou hast not given, that thou hast
lost? Wherefore dost thou not attend to the voice of thy God? Where is
thy faith? wherefore is it so fast asleep? Wake it up in thy heart. Consider
what the Lord Himself said unto thee, while exhorting thee to good works
of this kind: "Provide yourselves bags which wax not old; a treasure
in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth."[6] Call
this to mind therefore when you are lamenting over a loss. Wherefore dost
thou lament, thou fool of little mind, or rather of unsound mind? Wherefore
didst thou lose it, except that thou didst not lend it to Me? Wherefore
didst thou lose it? Who has carried it off? Thou wilt answer, "A thief." Was
it not this, that I forewarned thee of? that thou shouldest not lay it
up where the thief could approach? If then he who has lost anything, grieves,
let him grieve for this, that he did not lay it up there, whence it could
not be lost.

8. "For the Lord loveth judgment, and for-saketh not His Saints" (ver.
28). When the Saints suffer affliction, think not that God doth not judge,
or doth not judge righteously. Will He, who warns thee to judge righteously,
Himself judge unrighteously? He "loveth judgment, and forsaketh not
His Saints." But (think) how[7] the "life" of the Saints
is "hid with Him," in such a manner, that who now suffer trouble
on earth, like trees in the winter-time, having no fruit and leaves, when
He, like a newly-risen sun, shall have appeared, that which before was
living in their root, will show itself forth in fruits. He does then "love
judgment, and doth not forsake His Saints." ...

9. "But the unrighteous shall be punished; the seed of the wicked
shall be cut off." Just as the "seed of the" other "shall
be blessed," so shall the "seed of the wicked be cut off." For
the "seed" of the wicked is the works of the wicked. For again,
on the other hand, we find the son of the wicked man flourish in the world,
and sometimes become righteous, and flourish in Christ. Be careful therefore
how thou takest it; that thou mayest remove the covering, and make thy
way to Christ.[1] Do not take the text in a carnal sense; for thou wilt
be deceived. But "the seed of the wicked"-all the works of the
wicked-" will be cut off:" they shall have no fruit. For they
are effective indeed for a short time; afterwards they shall seek for them,
and shall not find the reward of that which they have wrought. For it is
the expression of those who lose what they have wrought, that text which
says, "What hath pride profired us, or what good hath riches with
our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow."[2] "The
seed of the wicked," then, "shall be cut off."

10. "The righteous shall inherit the land" (ver. 29). Here again
let not covetousness steal on thee, nor promise thee some great estate;
hope not to find there, what you are commanded to despise in this world.
That "land" in the text, is a certain "land of the living," the
kingdom of the Saints. Whence it is said: "Thou art my hope, my portion
in the land of the living."[3] For if thy life too is the same life
as that there spoken of, think what sort of "land" thou art about
to inherit. That is "the land of the living;" this the land of
those who are about to die: to receive again, when dead those whom it nourished
when living. Such then as is that land, such shall the life itself be also:
if the life be for ever, "the land" also is to be thine "for
ever." And how is "the land" to be thine "for ever"?

"And they Shall dwell therein" (it says) "for ever." It
must therefore be another land, where "they are to dwell therein for
ever." For of this land (of this earth) it is said, "Heaven and
earth shall pass away."[4]

11. "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom" (ver. 30).
See here is that "bread." Observe with what satisfaction this
righteous man feedeth upon it; how he turns wisdom over and over in his
mouth. "And his tongue talketh of judgment."

"The law of his God is in his heart" (ver. 31). Lest haply thou
shouldest think him to have that on his lips, which he hath not in his
heart, lest thou shouldest reckon him among those of whom it is said, "This
people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."[5]
And of what use is this to him?

"And none of his steps shall slide." The "word of God in
the heart" frees from the snare; the "word of God in the heart" delivers
from the evil way; "the word of God in the heart" delivers from "the
slippery place."[6] He is with thee, Whose word departeth not from
thee. Now what evil doth he suffer, whom God keepeth? Thou settest a watchman
in thy vineyard, and feelest secure from thieves; and that watchman may
sleep, and may himself fall, and may admit a thief. But "He who keepeth
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."[7] "The law of his God
is in his heart, and none of his steps shall slide." Let him therefore
live free from fear; let him live free from fear even in the midst of the
wicked; free from fear even in the midst of the ungodly. For what evil
can the ungodly or unrighteous man do to the righteous? Lo! see what follows.

"The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him" (ver.
32). For he says, what it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should
say, "He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is not
like other men's."[8] Therefore he "seeks to slay him." What?
Doth the Lord, who keepeth him, who dwelleth with him, who departeth not
from his lips, from his heart, doth He forsake him? What then becomes of
what was said before: "And He forsaketh not His Saints"?[9]

12. "The wicked therefore watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to
slay him. But the Lord will not leave him in his hands" (ver. 33).
Wherefore then did He leave the Martyrs in the hands of the ungodly? Wherefore
did they do unto them "whatsoever they would "?[10] Some they
slew with the sword; some they crucified; some they delivered to the beasts;
some they burnt by fire; others they led about in chains, till wasted out
by a long protracted decay. Assuredly "the Lord forsaketh not His
Saints." He will not "leave him in his hands." Lastly, wherefore
did He leave His own Son in "the hands of the ungodly"? Here
also, if thou wouldest have all the limbs of thy inner man made strong,
remove the covering of the roof, and find thy way to the Lord. Hear what
another Scripture, foreseeing our Lord's future suffering at the hands
of the ungodly, saith. What saith it? "The earth is given into the
hands of the wicked."[11] What is meant by "earth" being "given
into the hands of the ungodly"? The delivering of the flesh into the
hands of the persecutors. But God did not leave "His righteous One"[12]
there: from the flesh, which was taken captive, He leads. forth the soul
unconquered. ...

"The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when there
shall be judgment for him" (ver. 33). Some copies have it, "and
when He shall judge him, there shall be judgment for him." "For
him," however, means when sentence is passed upon him. For we can
express ourselves so as to say to a person, "Judge for me," i.e. "hear
my cause." When therefore God shall begin to hear the cause of His
righteous servant, since "we must all" be presented "before
the tribunal of Christ," and stand before it to receive every one "the
things he hath done in this body,"[1] whether good or evil, when therefore
he shall have come to that Judgment, He will not condemn him; though he
may seem to be condemned in this present life by man. Even though the Proconsul
may have passed sentence on Cyprian,[2] yet the earthly seatof judgment
is one thing, the heavenly tribunal is another. From the inferior tribunal
he receives sentence of death; from the superior one a crown, "Nor
will He condemn him when there shall be judgment for him."

13. "Wait on the Lord" (ver. 34). And while I am waiting upon
Him, what am I to do?--"and keep His ways." And if I keep them,
what am I to receive? "And He shall exalt thee to inherit the land." "What
land"? Once more let not any estatesuggest itself to your mind:--the
land of which it is said, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."[3]
What of those who have troubled us, in the midst of whom we have groaned,
whose scandals we have patiently endured, for whom, while they were raging
against us, we have prayed in vain? What will become of them? What follows? "When
the wicked are cut off, thou shall see it." ...

"I have seen the ungodly lifted up on high, and rising above the
cedars of Libanus" (ver. 35). And suppose him to be "lifted up
on high;" suppose him to be towering above the "rest;" what
follows?

"I passed by, and, lo, he was not! I sought him, and his place could
nowhere be found!" (ver. 36). Why was he "no more, and his place
nowhere to be found"? Because thou hast "passed by." But
if thou art yet carnally-minded, and that earthly prosperity appears to
thee to be true happiness, thou hast not yet "passed by" him;
thou art either his fellow, or thou art below him; go on, and pass him;
and when thou hast made progress, and hast passed by him, thou observest
him by the eye of faith; thou seest his end, thou sayest to thyself, "Lo!
he who so swelled before, is not!" just as if it were some smoke that
thou wert passing near to. For this too was said above in this very Psalm, "They
shall consume and fade away as the smoke."[4] ...

14. "Keep innocency" (ver. 37); keep it even as thou usedst
to keep thy purse, when thou wert covetous; even as thou usedst to hold
fast that purse, that it might not be snatched from thy grasp by the thief,
even so "keep innocency," lest that be snatched from thy grasp
by the devil. Be that thy sure inheritance, of which the rich and the poor
may both be sure. "Keep innocency." What doth it profit thee
to gain gold, and to lose innocence?

"Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing which is right." Keep
thou thine eyes "right," that thou mayest see "the thing
which is right;" not perverted, wherewith thou lookest upon the wicked;
not distorted, so that God should appear to thee distorted and wrong, in
that He favours the wicked, and afflicts the faithful with persecutions.
Dost thou not observe how distorted thy vision is? Set right thine eyes,
and "behold the thing that is right." What "thing that is
right"?. Take no heed of things present. And what wilt thou see?

"For there is a remainder for the man that maketh peace."[5]
What is meant by "there is a remainder"? When thou art dead,
thou shall not be dead. This is the meaning of "there is a remainder." He
will still have something remaining to him, even after this life, that
is to say, that "seed," which "shall be blessed." Whence
our Lord saith, "He that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall
he live;"[6]--"seeing there is a remainder for the man that maketh
peace."

15. "But the transgressors shall be destroyed in the self-same thing"[7]
(ver. 38). What is meant by, "in the self-same thing"? It means
for ever: or all together in one and the wicked shall be cut off." Now there is "(a
remainder) for the man that maketh peace:" they therefore who are
not peace-makers s are ungodly. For, "Blessed are the peace-makers:
for they shall be called the children of God."[9]

16. "But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, and He is
their strength in the time of trouble" (ver. 39). "And the Lord
shall help them, and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the sinners"[10]
(ver. 40). At present therefore let the righteous bear with the sinner;
let the wheat bear with the tares; let the grain bear with the chaff: for
the time of separation will come, and the good seed shall be set apart
from that which is to be consumed with fire.[11] The one will be consigned
to the garner, the other to "everlasting burning;" for it was
for this reason that the just and the unjust were at the first together;
that the one should lay a stumbling-block,[1] that the other should be
proved; that afterwards the one should be condemned, the other receive
a crown. ...